Manufacture of shoes



Get 6, 1936. Q Q TURNER 2,056,313 I MANUFACTURE OF SHOES I Filed Dec. 17, 1935 WVE/VTUF Km .0. M

- Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENTTOFFICE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES Application December 17, 1935, Serial No. 54,867

'1 Claims. (Cl. 12-142) This invention relates to the art of shoemaking and is illustrated herein with special reference to the manufacture of shoes having skeleton insoles, i. e., insoles formed with open /or skeletonized foreparts,

, In the manufacture of shoes having skeleton insoles it is usually found desirable to attach to the inner surface of the forepart of each insole a thin piece of relatively stiif material to serve as a temporary reinforcement against the strains to which the insole is subjected during the lasting of the shoe and later as the result of the reaction of the lastedupper after the latter has been secured to the insole. Finally, after the shoe has been removed from the last, the reinforcing piece is pulled out from the inside of the shoe. Moreover, it is also usually desirable to provide a filler of some sort for the space within the overlasted margins of the upper materials in,order to avoid the formation of a hollow in to the reinforcing of the skeleton insole, the trimming of the overlasted margins of the upper, and the filling of the space within the trimmed upper margins.

As illustrated, the forepart of the skeleton 3 insole is reinforced by means of a piece of relatively stiff reinforcing material which overlies the opening in the insole and is temporarily secured by means of cement to the adjacent marginal portion at the outer side of the insole, the 35 reinforcing piece having an edge contour corresponding to that of the forepart of the insole but being substantially smaller than the insole so as to leave a substantial width of insole margin exposed to receive thela'sting allowance of the 40 upper and thereinforcing piece being of'substantial thickness so that its edge will constitute a perpendicular lasting shoulder for deflecting intc upstanding position the inner edge portion of the lasting. allowance in order to facilitate the trimming of the upper. As also illustrated herein, after the upper has been worked over the last and the lasting allowance. has been secured in overlasted position to the marginal portion of the insole with its edge portion upstanding around 50 the reinforcing piece in the forepart of the shoe,

the reinforcing piece'is removed by stripping it from the insole and the upstanding edge portion of the upper is trimmed so that its trimmed edge will be fiush with the remaining overlasted portion thereof. The space within the trimmed edges of the upper is then filled by means of a filler piece having the same edge contour as that of the reinforcing piece so that it will accurately fit within and fill that space, the edge thickness of the filler piece preferably corresponding to 5 that of the upper materials so as to insure against the formation of any depression in the forepart of the outsole. Preferably, the filler piece is composed of soft yielding material, such as felt, in order to provide a cushioning effect in the 10 forepart of the shoe bottom and as shown the filler piece may be made thicker in its central portion than at its edge so as to insure the desired transverse convexity in the outsole. A regular outsole may be attached to the shoe bottom 15 by means of cement or otherwise or'an outsole may be employed which has in its forepart an integral projection which is complemental to the opening in the insole in which case the filler piece will be only-of such thickness as to compensate 20 for the thickness of the overlasted upper materials.

The invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a reinforced skeleton insole constructed in accordance with the present invention, the insole being applied to the bottom of a last;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the forepart of a shoe in the course of construction in accordance with my improved method, the shoe being shown as it appears after the upper has been secured in overlasted relation to the insole;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shoe as it appears after the insole reinforcing piece has been removed and before the upper has been trimmed;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the forepart of the shoe illustrating the operation of trimming the upper;

.Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a completed 40 shoe embodying a regular outsole; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but-showing an outsole having its forepart formed with an integral projection' complemental to the opening in the 1118018. 1

In the drawing Ill designates a skeleton insole having a central forepart opening l2, and I4 designates a temporary reinforcing piece which overlies the opening l2 and the adjacent portions of the forepart of the insole and is secured to the latter by cement, as indicated at IS in Fig. 1, the cement being preferably rubber cement such as latex or other cement which will remain more or less viscous in use so that the reinforcing piece may be easily removed by stripping it from the 5 shoe, aswill hereinafter be explained. The reinforcing piece I corresponds in edge contour with that of the forepart of the insole but it is smaller in size than the insole forepart so as to leave exposed between its edge and the edge of the insole a sufllcient width of insole margin to enable the lasting allowance of a shoe upper to be secured I in overlasted position to the insole. The reinforcing piece is made of relatively stiff material such, for example, as fiberboard, so that it will reinforce the skeletonized forepart of the insole against the stresses to which it is to be'sub jected in the lasting of the shoe andv it is of substantial thickness and'is died out or otherwise formed with its edge perpendicular to its faces so that the edge will be adapted to function as a perpendicular lasting shoulder for deflecting upwardly the inner portion of the lasting allowance in the forepart of the shoe in a manner to facilitate the subsequent trimming of the upper. Pref erably, the reinforcing piece M will be cemented to the insole before the insole has been applied to the last and while the insole is in a flat condition.

It may be here noted that the attachment of the reinforcing piece II to the insole enables the latter to be conveniently secured in place upon the bottom of a last by means of tacks driven through that portion of the reinforcing piece which overlies the opening in the forepart of the insole, thus rendering it practicable to employ metal-shod lasts .of the type ordinarily used in the making of McKay-sewed shoes. Such a last is shown in the drawing at i 8, the last having a metallic bottom plate 20 provided with the usual tack holes 22. As shown, the insole Ill is secured by three tacks 24, two of which extend through the reinforcing piece It, through the two holes 22 in the forepart of the last plate 20 and into the wood of the las't, while the third tack 24 extends through the rear portion of the insole, through the rearmost hole 22 in the last plate 20 and into the last. It will be noted that the foremost tackholes 22, which occupy their customary locations in the last plate,

new lasts without metal bottoms for use in mak-. ing shoes having skeleton insoles, it will be recognized that a substantial advantage results from the useof the temporary reinforcing piece I as a means for receiving tacks for temporarily securing the insole to the last.

In continuing with the practice of my improved method of making shoes the upper materials 30 of a shoe (herein shown as comprising a lining 32 and an upper 34) after having been assembled with the insole ID on the last I! and pulled over in the usual way, are lasted and the marginal portions thereof are secured inoverlasted position to the insole. Various methods of lasting the upper materials may be practiced. The upper materials 5 are herein illustrated as having been secured in overlasted position to the insole by means of cement except at the heel where tacks 36 are employed. In preparing for the attachment of theupper materials to the insole by means of cement a stripe of cement, for example rubber cement or latex. is applied to the margin of the insole either insole at "a later stage in the manufacture of the before or after the insoles are applied to the last and cement is applied to the marginal portions of the upper materials,that is, to the side of the lining which is to face the insole and also between the lining and the upper. The upper materials are then worked over the last and over the marginal portion of the insole by means of suitable lasting operations. The lasting of the upper materials over the insole at the opposite sides of the forepart and shank portions of the shoe may be accomplished by means of a side lasting machine in the use of which one or more overlaying mem-,

bers operate progressively along the shoe bottom to wipe the upper materials inwardly over the marginal portions of the insole. As herein shown, staples 38 are employed, in addition to the cement, for securing the upper materials in overlasted position in the shank portion of the shoe. The operation of lasting the toe and heel portions of the shoe may advantageously be performed by means of a bed lasting machine of a well-known type such, for example, as the machine disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,018,477, granted February 27, 1912, upon application of Matthias Brock.

The overlaying members of the side lasting ma chineand the toe plates of the bed lasting machine will wipe the margins of the upper materials inwardly over the insole and work them into the right angle ,between the surface of the insole and the perpendicular edge of the reinforcing piece 14, leaving them upstanding around the forepart of the shoe, as indicated at in Figs. 2 and 3. As shown in Fig. 3, staples 38 may be employed in addition to the cement in the shank portion of the shoe for retaining the margins of the upper materials in overlasted position. As illustrated, cement alone is relied upon to maintain the upper materials in overlasted relation to the insole at the forepart and in the toe portion of the shoe, although if desired staples could be used either as temporary or permanent lasting fastenings in addition to the cement.

After the lasting operations have been completed the reinforcing piece I is removed by stripping it from the insole and the upper margins are trimmed'. The trimming operation is facilitated by the fact that the inner edge portions of 5 the upper margins have been deflected upwardly by engagement with the edge of the reinforcing piece so that they are disposed in substantially perpendicular relation to the insole. This arrangement of the edge portions of the upper materials in the forepart of the shoe makes it feasible to trim the upper by the use of a so-called turn shoe trinuning machine of the general type of that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 429,065, granted May 27, 1890, upon application of H. S. Shaadt and F. L. Clark. As shown in Fig. 4, such a machine is provided with cooperating shear blades comprising an inner or stationary shearblade 42' and an outer or reciprocating shear blade 44. As also illustrated in Fig.

4, in order that the machine shall operate to trim the edge of the upper flush with the exposed surface of that portion of the upper which overlies the margin of the insole, the usual relation of the trimming blades has been reversed so that the inner or stationary blade 42 is lowermost and the outer or reciprocating blade 44 is uppermost.

It will be seen that the outer end of the inner and lower blade 42, by engagement with the inner side of the upstanding margin of the upper, serves as a gage for properly locating the work relatively accepts that not only is the upstanding portion of the upper trimmed flush with the overlasted portion thereof, but the trimmed edge will be located in a position determined by the edge contour of the reinforcing piece it. Thus, by cutting out a filler piece so as to correspond in edge contour with that of the reinforcing piece it, a filler piece may be obtained which is shaped so as accurately to fit within the space which'is to be filled. A filler piece thus cut to size is indicated at 36 in Fig. 5, the filler piece being of an edge thickness corresponding to the combined thickness of the upper materials so as tocompensate for the thickness of "the latter and thus to prevent the formation of a hollowor sunken area in the outer or tread surface of the outsole which is subsequently to be attachedto the shoe. Advantageously, the filler piece 48 may be composed of suitable soft or yielding material such as felt so as to provide a cushioning effect in the shoe. The marginal portions of the filler piece may be beveled to correspond with the bevel around the edge of the opening 52 in the insole.

After filling the space within the overlasted margins of the upper the shoe is ready to receive an outsole which may be laid and attached in any suitable manner. As shown in Fig. 5 the outsole 50 has been attached by means of cement, the margins of the outsole and the surfaces of the overlasted upper materials having been previously roughened and coated with cement in a wellknown manner.

It will be noted that in accordance with the herein described method it is not necessary that the skeleton insole be split from an outsole so as to leave on the outsole a. central projection complemental to the opening in the insole or that the marginal portion of the outsole be reduced to any substantial extent. However, if desired, a socalled complemental insole-outsole combination may be employed, as illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein the outsole 52 has a central forepart projection 5 which is complemental to the opening in the insole and which would be adapted completely to fill the opening in the insole if the overlasted margins of the upper were not interposed between the soles. 'In order to compensate for the thickness of the overlasted upper margins between the inner and outer soles in such cases, a filler piece may be employed which; as shown, is advantageously of an edge thickness corresponding to that of the upper materials.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the to the application of the insole to a last'a reinforcing piece of a size to cover said openin 7 while leaving exposed at the forepart of the insole a sufficientwidth of margin to, receive the lasting allowance. of an upper, securing said insole to a last with said reinforcing piece at the outer side of the insole, working an upper over the last and securing its lasting allowance to the v(insole, removing said reinforcing piece from the tively stiff reinforcing piece of a size to cover said the lasting allowance of an upper, temporarily securing said insole to a last with said reinforcing piece at the outer side of the insole, working an upper over the last and securing its lasting allow-- ance to the insole, removing said reinforcing piece from the insole, trimming the upper, inserting in the space within the trimmed edges of the upper a relatively soft and flexible filler piece,

and attaching an outsole.

3. That improvementin methods of making shoes which consists in reinforcing an insole having a central opening in its forepart by laying over' said'opening and temporarily securing to the adjacent portion of the outer side of the in,-' sole a reinforcing piece of substantial thickness and of a contour-corresponding to that of the forepart of the insole but of a size substantially smaller than said forepart, thereby leaving exposed a substantial width of insole margin-for receiving the lasting allowance of an upper and adapting the edge of said reinforcing piece to serve as a lasting shoulder, assembling said reinforced insole with an upper on a last, working the upper over the last and over the marginal than that of the insole, assembling the insole with an upper on a last, lasting the upper and securing it in overlasted position upon the insole with the marginal portion of the upper upstanding along the edge of said reinforcing piece, stripping the reinforcingpiece'from the insole and cutting away the upstanding edge of the upper opening while leaving exposed at the forepart of v the insole a sumcient width of margin to receive thereby providing a space within the trimmed edges of the'upper corresponding in shape tothat of said'reinforcing piece, filling said space with a piece of flexible material cut to the. same shape as said reinforcing piece and of a thick ness to compensate for the thickness of the upper, and attaching an outsole.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in cementing to one side of the forepart of a skeletonized insole a reinforcing piece of substantial thickness and of a contour corresponding to but smaller than that of the insole, assembling the insole with an upper on a last, working the upper over the last and over the marginal portion of the insole and into the angle formed between the edge of said reinforcing piece and the adjacent surface of the insole, thereby causing the edge portion of the upper to assume an upstanding position along the edge of said reinforcing piece and securing the upper in overlasted relation to the insole, strippingsaid reinforcing piece from the insole, trimming the upstanding edge portion of the upper flush with the outer surface of that portion which overlies the insole, inserting a filler piece in the location formerly occupied by said reinforcing piece, and attaching an outsole. I

6. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in cementing to one side of the forepart of a skeletonized insole a reinforcing piece of substantial thickness and of a contour corresponding to but smaller than that of the insole, assembling the insole with an upper on a last, working the upper over the last and over the marginal portion of the insole and into the angle formed between the edge of said reinforcing piece and the adjacent surface of the insole, thereby causing the edge portion of the upper to assume an upstanding position along the edge of said reinforcing piece and securing the upper in overlasted relation to the insole, stripping said reinforcing piece from the insole, trimming the upstanding edge portion of the upper flush with the outer surface of that portion which overliesthe insole, applying to the space within the trimmed margin of the upper a filler piece of an edge thickness equal to that of the upper materials and of a'contour corresponding to that of said reinforcing piece, and attaching an outsoie having a central forepart projection complemental. to the opening in the insole;

7. That improvement in methods of making shoeswhich consists in reinforcing an insole having a central opening in its forepart by laying over said opening and temporarily securing to the adjacent portion of the insole a reinforcing piece of substantial thickness and of a contour corresponding to that of the forepart of the insole but of a size substantially smaller than said forepart so that the edge of said reinforcing piece is adapted to serve as a lasting shoulder, placing said insole upon a last of the type used in making McKay-sewed shoes, said last having a metallic bottom plate provided with the usual tack holes, securing the insole to the last by means of tacks driven through said reinforcing piece and throughisaid tack ,holes and into the last, assembling an upper with the insole on the last, working the upper over the last and securing its margin in overlasted position upon the insole, withdrawing said lasting tacks and removing said reinforcing piece from the insole, trimming the upper, and attaching an outs-ole.

' CHESTER D. TURNER. 

